I wish to highlight for the Minister's urgent attention the situation which arose yesterday when a District Court judge once again severely criticised the Government for failing to provide adequate accommodation for seriously disturbed children. Ireland has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and we will be reporting to the UN monitoring committee in September next year. Will the details of this case form part of our report? How can we hold our heads high if we allow situations like this to continue?
Our children are our future and we must invest in them. It is outrageous in this day and age that this child's ticket to care is to be labelled "criminal". The development of services for children has received much attention recently here because of the Kilkenny case. However, clearly that was not the end of the story. This is another example of the breakdown in our services for children. This case illustrates very clearly that there is urgent need for good planning and coordination between the different agencies and Departments involved in the provision of services for children. It has been said that the mark of a civilised society is how we approach our children, more particularly our disturbed, needy, vulnerable children. Is it not outrageous that a nine year old boy had to be classified as being criminal in order to secure facilities to help him? If we cannot provide suitable therapeutic care and facilities for a nine year old boy how can we cope with the demands of many young troubled people as they grow into adolescents? How can we provide suitable services for older age groups if we cannot provide for the smaller number of nine year olds who will need these services? This situation illustrates the need to update our 1908 legislation in relation to juvenile justice. Is the Department of Justice prioritising this issue?
The professionals working in this field say there is a constant problem with a small number of very difficult, out of control and disturbed children. If we do not provide adequate care and facilities, some of those children are likely to face the risk of homelessness, prostitution and other forms of abuse and exploitation, I believe this is happening already. The court system constantly faces difficulties in trying to help such children. The professionals are tired writing to various Ministers and to one another seeking solutions. It is clear that a range of care services must be provided for disturbed and out of control children and adolescents. The most extreme form of care we need to secure, therapeutic units for a small number of children, which are open, halfway houses and a support to families.
This position arises also with mentally handicapped children who face particular behavioural problems at times, who are beyond parental control and face the lack of respite care and appropriate units. Many of those families are under extreme stress. I ask the Minister to ensure that the Ministers for Health, Education and Justice work together to solve this problem. The children and their families suffer and future generations will bear the cost.
There is a deeply felt level of frustration on the part of the many dedicated workers involved in trying to help those children at what appears to be a total lack of cohesion, planning and liaison between Departments and health boards in tackling this problem. Will the Minister put in place a system that, once and for all, will examine this issue, analyse the needs and plan the resources needed to provide care for those children? This is not necessarily a matter of providing buildings, but of taking a serious, coordinated and high level approach to the problem and it is the Minister's responsibility to ensure that approach is adopted.
